"two padeye-type genoa cars " I recall those puppies being outright expensive. Since the mount isn't intended to be a "slider"...why not take an 18" piece of 2x4 on each side of the genoa track and simply through-bolt them together, using some heavy bolts and wing nuts? It you routed out a matching pattern so they snugged nice and tight over the track, and kept the bolts above it, you could even just lift it on/off as you loosened the bolts.

And have the ladder sit in two pockets drilled into the wood, instead of making holes in the tubing.

(A machine shop, some bar stock, whole thing could be done very nicely in all metal, too.)

I'd just be afraid that drilling holes in the ladder would lead to the holes tearing out after a while. (And did I mention, them genoa cars are expensive?)

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Telstar 28
New England

You know what the first rule of sailing is? ...Love. You can learn all the math in the 'verse, but you take
a boat to the sea you don't love, she'll shake you off just as sure as the turning of the worlds. Love keeps
her going when she oughta fall down, tells you she's hurting 'fore she keens. Makes her a home.

—Cpt. Mal Reynolds, Serenity (edited)

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Thanks for the advice. I mentioned the genoa track in the original post as the genoa sheets outside the shrouds and the track is mounted on the toe rail. however, i do have a teak toe rail, and therefore mounting the clips could be just as easy. Eventually I would like to have a teak boarding ladder, but that can be very expensive to have custom made and there are a lot of other projects ahead of it on the sheet. So for the time being I think I am going to go with TrueBlue's suggested fix.

Earl-
Teak can be pricey, but take a look at Ipe, a Brazilian wood also called "ironwood" (several woods are called that) which is used in the outdoor decking industry and MUCH cheaper than teak, but fairly similar in color and physical properties. Not as "reddish" but it falls within the range of teak shades. The 1x6 pieces commonly used for decking mean you could probably pick up a dozen scraps from a decking project and get your wood very inexpensively. Not outrageous even if you order it new from a marine lumberyard like Condon's. (ML CONDON 248 Ferris Ave. White Plains, NY 10603 tel: 914-946-4111 fax: 914-946-3779 Real old fashioned good folks to deal with.)

Ipe although tough as iron, considerably outweighs teak. I would suspect a custom, removable Ipe boarding ladder, long enough for swimmer access, would be impractical on most boats.

When we found that we needed a side-mount boarding ladder, I envisioned building a wooden unit, remisiscent of the teak & bronze hardware beauties on those classic, wooden "gentlemen's yachts" from a century ago. I nixed the idea, due to the sheer weight of those things.

Stainless steel is aesthically compatible to most boat's stanchions. But I do agree, it is nice to dream of beautiful, but impractical boat fittings.

Here's a boarding ladder custom built by Nauticat yachts for a fellow Nauticater . . . a bit over the top, but way cool:

Try these peple, Mystic MarineStainless. http://www.mysticstainless.com/index.html We have one of their laddres on our 42 Endeavour and it is very good quality and a safe ladder. We recently went to an offshore reef with another boat, they had to make an emergncy departure as their side ladder gave way in the rolling seas, we had and enjoyable day with our PROPER LADDER http://www.mysticstainless.com/index.html

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